Oneil Jamaica Excursions review

[TravelFiend]

I just wanted to hop on and write up a review of our excursion with Oneil. He was absolutely fantastic and I would totally recommend booking with him! Not paid or anything, just a satisfied customer.

 

We cruised to Montego Bay, but really wanted to see the Blue Hole. Oneil arranged to pick us up and take us back, with a stop for lunch at Scotchie's. He was there right on time in his clean and blissfully air-conditioned van, and was so kind and engaging. He was able to connect with my shy 10 year old and let my 15 year old have a Taylor Swift singalong while we were stuck in traffic. Even though it was a long ride, he made sure we could relax and shared info about the things we were passing. 

 

Once at the Blue Hole, Oneil hooked us up with a couple of friends of his, who escorted us through the falls and helped us over the rocks. It was really nice to have them there and it allowed me to focus on hiking (which is not my strong suit), and know that my kiddos were safe with them! They held our stuff, helped us on the rocks, and even took photos for us! We tipped them at the end, and it was well worth it. We felt like VIPs compared to so many of the other folks who were struggling. 

 

This ended up being a theme - everywhere we went Oneil seemed to know everyone, and they were happy to help him give his guests a wonderful experience. When we were happy and hungry after the Blue Hole, he took our lunch order and called ahead to Scotchie's so they would have our food ready when we arrived. He made recommendations and they did not disappoint - the food was delicious! And while the restaurant staff was busy with all the tour groups who had stopped in, we had one staffer all to ourselves who saw to our every need. Outstanding service, fantastic food, and they even helped find things for the pickier eaters!

 

After lunch Oneil got us back to the ship with plenty of time to spare, with some photo stops along the way at some of the gorgeous overlooks. Overall just a really great experience and I will absolutely be getting in touch with him next time I'm in Jamaica! 

[TravelFiend]

Realizing I forgot to share their website!

 

https://oneiljamaicaexcursions.com/

[Katie111]

Great review and perfect timing as I had just reached out to him for our Christmas cruise.  So glad to hear good things!  Interesting about Scotchies as the recent reviews on Tripadvisor are pretty bad.  Wonder if there is more than one.  Can I ask what your picky eaters ate as my 16-year-old is ridiculously picky.   Was debating asking him to stop somewhere else instead.   Also, did you need water shoes for this activity?  Thanks!

Edited December 5, 2023 by Katie111

[TravelFiend]

On 12/5/2023 at 8:23 AM, Katie111 said:

Great review and perfect timing as I had just reached out to him for our Christmas cruise.  So glad to hear good things!  Interesting about Scotchies as the recent reviews on Tripadvisor are pretty bad.  Wonder if there is more than one.  Can I ask what your picky eaters ate as my 16-year-old is ridiculously picky.   Was debating asking him to stop somewhere else instead.   Also, did you need water shoes for this activity?  Thanks!

Hey Katie! We did wear water shoes, and some of us had better luck than others. I wore my Birkenstock EVAs and kept losing them! The rest of my family was fine with a more sneaker/sandal type shoe. So something like a Keen, etc. would be great.

 

We had a great experience at Scotchie's, but I do know there are two locations. The other thing I noticed is that many of the folks around us who were with a large group got kind of a "boxed lunch" type of meal - one meat and one side, and they would come out in giant piles on trays and get passed around. So I don't know if that has impacted the reviews, and their lunches had been sitting around for a while? We asked Oneil what he suggested ordering, and we got a chicken and some pork. The chicken came right off the grill and was so hot we had to wait to eat it for a few minutes! My pickier eater really liked the chicken. It wasn't spicy, just kind of a different take on a rotisserie chicken if you didn't put the sauce on it. My kids both really liked the rice (which had a few kidney beans in it as well) and these things called "festivals" that are sort of like a hush puppy? Both my kids wished we had ordered more of them, they were REALLY delicious. They also liked getting to try the local soda, and said the pineapple flavor was fantastic. Oneil was wonderful though and I'm sure he'd be willing to take you somewhere else if you prefer! He was so accommodating and kind!

[Katie111]

Thank you so much!  This is super helpful.  We just booked with him yesterday.  Did you just pay when you arrived?  He didn’t ask for a deposit or anything.  

[OCMommy]

Thank you for your review!  We will be in Jamaica next week and still haven't booked anything!  If you don't mind my asking, how was the Blue Hole?  I read a review online that it was dirty with trash and broken glass, which makes me nervous with my family, but it gets great reviews.  Thanks!

[vanderveen44]

Hoping Katie111, OCMommy, or Travel Fiend can reply. Did you guys just zelle Oneill a $10 deposit. Was he on time at the port? Did you take you bring your wallet and cash with you? If so where did you leave it?

On 12/11/2023 at 3:20 PM, OCMommy said:

Thank you for your review!  We will be in Jamaica next week and still haven't booked anything!  If you don't mind my asking, how was the Blue Hole?  I read a review online that it was dirty with trash and broken glass, which makes me nervous with my family, but it gets great reviews.  Thanks!

Tr

[OCMommy]

10 minutes ago, vanderveen44 said:

Hoping Katie111, OCMommy, or Travel Fiend can reply. Did you guys just zelle Oneill a $10 deposit. Was he on time at the port? Did you take you bring your wallet and cash with you? If so where did you leave it?

Tr

Yes, we did end up using Oneil.  He is FANTASTIC!!  I seriously can not say enough wonderful things about him and our day in Jamaica.  We did the Blue Hole and tubing, it was great!!  I did Zelle him a deposit then paid him cash for the balance when he picked us up.

[vanderveen44]

Thank you for the quick response. Did you bring cash other than the balance? If so how did you keep it safe during each excursion? Thinking of doing Blue Hole and ziplining. Where did you tube and is tubing slow moving?

On 12/11/2023 at 3:20 PM, OCMommy said:

Thank you for your review!  We will be in Jamaica next week and still haven't booked anything!  If you don't mind my asking, how was the Blue Hole?  I read a review online that it was dirty with trash and broken glass, which makes me nervous with my family, but it gets great reviews.  Thanks!

Tr

[OCMommy]

1 hour ago, vanderveen44 said:

Thank you for the quick response. Did you bring cash other than the balance? If so how did you keep it safe during each excursion? Thinking of doing Blue Hole and ziplining. Where did you tube and is tubing slow moving?

Tr

 

He paid for our entrance fees at each place with the cash we gave him.  I did bring extra cash for souvenirs, and I also tipped him at the end.  He kept our stuff locked up in his (very nice) transport van.  We did not worry at all that our stuff wasn't safe.  

[vanderveen44]

Awesome, thanks!

[vanderveen44]

One last question. Did you follow up with him prior to departing and how did you find him once you got off the boat?

[jackadapt]

Thanks for detailed review.  We also have a tour booked with Oneil and have similar activities booked, although sounds like you did more than we will.  We only have the Blue Hole and Scotchies on the agenda.  We will be arriving at Falmouth on the Odyssey of the Seas in April.  Ship will be in port 7AM - 4PM.  I'm assuming we will be allowed to leave the ship by about 7:30AM.  Can you give me rough times of when you met up with Oneil, when you arrived at Blue Hole, Scotchies and finally back to the ship?  I'm a bit of a worry wart with timing and would like to be back at the port no later than 90 mins, in this case, 2:30PM before the ship leaves.  Thanks again for the feedback.

[FloridaMac]

On 12/5/2023 at 12:23 AM, TravelFiend said:

Once at the Blue Hole, Oneil hooked us up with a couple of friends of his, who escorted us through the falls and helped us over the rocks....

Great review!  Question about Blue Hole.  Is it an easy walk to get to the Blue Hole?  Some of our party won't climb to the top of the falls, just hang out at the bottom. 60's, 70's knee replacements 😉  @TravelFiend

Edited February 20 by FloridaMac

[TravelFiend]

On 2/19/2024 at 6:11 PM, FloridaMac said:

Great review!  Question about Blue Hole.  Is it an easy walk to get to the Blue Hole?  Some of our party won't climb to the top of the falls, just hang out at the bottom. 60's, 70's knee replacements 😉  @TravelFiend

Hmm. It isn't hard to walk TO the falls, but definitely tough actually in the water. It also depends on where you approach? We went from higher up, and there were lots of stairs but it was fairly easy to negotiate, but I don't know how hard they would be for folks. But in the water itself, they definitely would struggle!

[Louis77]

On 12/5/2023 at 12:23 AM, TravelFiend said:

I just wanted to hop on and write up a review of our excursion with Oneil. He was absolutely fantastic and I would totally recommend booking with him! Not paid or anything, just a satisfied customer.

 

We cruised to Montego Bay, but really wanted to see the Blue Hole. Oneil arranged to pick us up and take us back, with a stop for lunch at Scotchie's. He was there right on time in his clean and blissfully air-conditioned van, and was so kind and engaging. He was able to connect with my shy 10 year old and let my 15 year old have a Taylor Swift singalong while we were stuck in traffic. Even though it was a long ride, he made sure we could relax and shared info about the things we were passing. 

 

Once at the Blue Hole, Oneil hooked us up with a couple of friends of his, who escorted us through the falls and helped us over the rocks. It was really nice to have them there and it allowed me to focus on hiking (which is not my strong suit), and know that my kiddos were safe with them! They held our stuff, helped us on the rocks, and even took photos for us! We tipped them at the end, and it was well worth it. We felt like VIPs compared to so many of the other folks who were struggling. 

 

This ended up being a theme - everywhere we went Oneil seemed to know everyone, and they were happy to help him give his guests a wonderful experience. When we were happy and hungry after the Blue Hole, he took our lunch order and called ahead to Scotchie's so they would have our food ready when we arrived. He made recommendations and they did not disappoint - the food was delicious! And while the restaurant staff was busy with all the tour groups who had stopped in, we had one staffer all to ourselves who saw to our every need. Outstanding service, fantastic food, and they even helped find things for the pickier eaters!

 

After lunch Oneil got us back to the ship with plenty of time to spare, with some photo stops along the way at some of the gorgeous overlooks. Overall just a really great experience and I will absolutely be getting in touch with him next time I'm in Jamaica! 

 Love The review. Oneil Jamaica excursions is definitely the way to go when you are in Jamaica.